Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One just got some Oscar-winning talent. Forest Whitaker is joining the ensemble cast of the stand-alone film set just before A New Hope.
The casting was first reported by Variety, although Disney and Lucasfilm did not comment.
Rogue One’s only confirmed star is Felicity Jones, but past reports have said that Diego Luna, Riz Ahmed and Ben Mendelsohn are featured in the film. Jones, Luna and Ahmed will play members of a Rebel Alliance group who help steal the Death Star plans. It’s not clear what Whiataker’s part will be.
Whitaker won an Oscar for 2006’s The Last King of Scotland and will next be seen in Southpaw with Jake Gyllenhaal. He’s also working on The Story of Your Life with Amy Adams, which will finish filming before Rogue One starts.
Rogue One will be directed by Godzilla’s Gareth Edwards and is the first in a series of stand-alone Star Wars Anthology movies that Disney plans to make inbetween the main Star Wars episodes. The film hits theaters on Dec. 16, 2016.
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